Archangel's Sun by Nalini Singh
Title: Archangel’s Sun
Author: Nalini Singh [listen to our podcast reviews of her books Cherish Hard and Rock Hard & listen to our interview with Nalini here!]
Part of a Series: Yes - Guild Hunter Book 13
Genre: Fantasy Romance / Paranormal Romance
Plot: The Archangel of Death and the Archangel of Disease may be gone but their legacy of evil lives on—especially in Africa, where the shambling, rotting creatures called the reborn have gained a glimmer of vicious intelligence.
It is up to Titus, archangel of this vast continent, to stop the reborn from spreading across the world. Titus can’t do it alone, but of the surviving powerful angels and archangels, large numbers are wounded, while the rest are fighting a surge of murderous vampires.
There is no one left…but the Hummingbird. Old, powerful, her mind long a broken kaleidoscope. Now, she must stand at Titus’s side against a tide of death upon a discovery more chilling than any other. For the Archangel of Disease has left them one last terrible gift…
Review:
Fans of this series will feel like they slipped back into their favorite sweatshirt, fresh from the dryer. Warm and fuzzy feelings abound as we are ensconced with the angels once again.
Like so many of you, I have been reading this series for a long time and this book continues the strong series quality. Nalini's characters are full of heart and nuance and Sharine and Titus’ chemistry was so unexpected to them, allowing me as a reader to go along for the ride of them falling in love with the truth of who that character was, rather than what they thought they were going to be like.
This series has such interesting lore and world-building and each time that I get to dip my toes in through a new character’s love story, I find out new things. One thing I was struck by is I assumed that in a relatively small society all angels would have met each other at a certain point. But Titus and Sharine, or the Hummingbird as she's known throughout angelkind, have never crossed paths. Brought a delightful element of each of them having to get to know who the “person” really is, not what they think they’ll be like in their mind.
Seeing a character come into their own power was a wonderful thing to witness. I loved that Sharine wasn't blaming other people, and stopped blaming herself as well, finally accepting that those were the things that happened and not who Sharine is now. Titus was wonderful in support of that after he gets over the initial shock that The Hummingbird isn't some fractured creature, but a woman of power and certainty in her opinions. He doesn't blame her for retreating from the world into her mind and trusts her to go by herself to figure out Charmission's legacy and asks that she help his forces battle the unborn.
This was definitely a slow burn with minimal description of the actual coupling. And while normally I'm a proponent of being a part of the sex, with these two characters, the build-up of their desire and regard for each other was so well done, it felt inevitable that they fit together and just became a couple.
The scenes where he is flying and carrying her, YUM. Such yearning. And her teasing of him was so great.
Sharine’s phone calls with Illium and Aodhan were lovely reminders of the importance of a trusted keeper of your secrets and your worries, and Illium's pain at thinking Aodhan may leave him behind in the dust is something universal everyone experiences at some time.
As always Nalini is a master of crafting a tale, and I was definitely ensconced in the mystery of the reborn and them ridding the planet of them. And I'm excited/hopeful that the next books will be Illium or Aodhan (or them together?!) because we aren't done in this world yet.
McDreamy to McSteamy: McRuleaContinentwithMe
Classy to Nasty: Vanilla
Hero rating: 🍆🍆🍆🍆 Titus is bold and confident and loving. No subterfuge, no artifice, he is who he is and loves his people fiercely. He also takes her coaching when dealing with the mortals who don't know him and trusts her to handle herself.
Heroine rating: 🍑🍑🍑🍑🍑 I love her. Her strength, her determination not to ever go back to the kaleidoscope landscape in her mind and stay present. To be someone her son can confide in, count on, and be present for was lovely. I also liked how little arrogance she had as an angel, she really sees the value in vampires and mortals that may of the Cadre and angels from previous books don't. Plus, she's a badass coming into this deep well of power. Her teasing of Titus and his realization that she has depths no one in angelkind knows about. Plus her closure with Aegeon was wonderful.
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I will for sure keep reading this series. I read this book in one sitting and was looking forward to the next book by the end.
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On the Romance at a Glance podcast, we review all genres of romance novels, as well as get into the nitty-gritty of real-life romance, relationships, and sex... while cracking each other up. Expect some spontaneous singing, funny anecdotes, honest reviews, and naughty language.
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